THE COMMERCIAL SPONGES AND THE SPONGE FISHERIES. 
od 
By H. F. MOORE, 
Scientific Assistant, United States Bureau of Fisheries. 
ed 
INTRODUCTION. 
Sponges are known to the general public almost solely from their use in 
the toilet, one of their minor applications. They are vastly more valuable 
in the arts. In many trades they are practically indispensable, and despite 
long effort and the ingenuity of inventors no satisfactory substitute has ever 
been produced and it is doubtful whether one can be found. The properties 
that give a sponge its value are many, they are found in combination in no 
other natural or artificial product, and the perpetuation of the sponge supply 
is of no small moment to civilization. 
The commercial sponges and their congeners are of wide distribution in 
the warmer waters, but the fisheries as at present developed are almost 
entirely restricted to the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of 
Mexico, and waters contiguous to these. Recently attempts have been made 
to establish a fishery in Australia, within the last year (1908) a few sponges 
have been shipped from the Philippines, and it is stated on rather vague 
authority that sponges resembling a poor quality of the Mediterranean toilet 
are now being fished on the coast of Madagascar. But the product of these 
regions is negligible in the markets of the world. 
The Mediterranean fishery is of considerable antiquity, and it now pro- 
duces over half in value of the world’s supply, though it is impossible to obtain 
accurate statistics for all countries on its border. The newer fisheries of the 
American coast produce by far the largest quantity, but a predominance of 
lower-priced kinds reduces the value to about three-fourths of that of the 
Mediterranean fisheries. The following table gives approximately the world’s 
annual yield at the present time: 
Mediterranean and contiguous waters (partly estimated) _______-_______- ye BE NESE ~$2, 039, 000 
TVG RLS LE, BLS Tile ofeh (Cai Clic C12) pe ae ea ee Oe ned oe 555, 000 
CDE SG oN Sh ( GREY TS) 2 ee ee ae ay a eet 7 Ie a ee eee 374, 000 
RA ATE ETHIC T On SAVECELOE) oo Sea 2 ee so eee a ee ROE ee cS a5. 520, 000 
(LEER acai NURS! (EST ce Zit Re Be Sa ee cern eee a 10, 000 
Slice ee OE es oe i aoa a se ew oe eee ESE Ae Bo Se eke 3, 498, 000 
